FEM (TRANSFER OR ISSUE OF SECURITY BY A PERSON RESIDENT OUTSIDE INDIA) (FOURTH AMENDMENT) REGULATIONS, 2017 – AMENDMENT IN REGULATION 2 AND SCHEDULE 1
NOTIFICATION NO.FEMA.387/2017-RB/GSR 224(E), DATED 9-3-2017
In exercise of the powers conferred by clause (b) of sub-section (3) of Section 6 and Section 47 of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (42 of 1999), the Reserve Bank of India hereby makes the following amendments in the Foreign Exchange Management (Transfer or issue of Security by a Person Resident outside India) Regulations, 2000 (Notification No. FEMA. 20/2000-RB dated 3rd May 2000) namely:-
Short Title & Commencement
1. (i) These Regulations may be called the Foreign Exchange Management (Transfer or Issue of Security by a Person Resident outside India) (Fourth Amendment) Regulations, 2017.
(ii) They shall come into force from the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.
Amendment of the Regulations
2. In the Foreign Exchange Management (Transfer or Issue of Security by a Person Resident outside India) Regulations, 2000, (Notification No. FEMA 20/2000-RB dated 3rd May 2000), in Regulation 2,
i. | after the sub-regulation (ii dd) and before the existing sub-regulation (ii e), the following sub-regulations shall be inserted: | |
“(ii E) E-commerce: |
a. | ‘E-commerce’ means buying and selling of goods and services including digital products over digital & electronic network. | |
b. | ‘E-commerce entity’ means a company incorporated under the Companies Act, 1956 or the Companies Act, 2013 or a foreign company covered under section 2 (42) of the Companies Act, 2013 or an office, branch or agency in India as provided in Section 2 (v) (iii) of FEMA 1999, owned or controlled by a person resident outside India and conducting the e-commerce business. | |
c. | ‘Inventory based model of e-commerce’ means an e-commerce activity where inventory of goods and services is owned by e-commerce entity and is sold to the consumers directly. | |
d. | ‘Market place model of e-commerce’ means providing of an information technology platform by an e-commerce entity on a digital & electronic network to act as a facilitator between buyer and seller.” |
Amendment of Schedule 1
3. In the Foreign Exchange Management (Transfer or Issue of Security by a Person Resident outside India) Regulations, 2000, (Notification No. FEMA 20/2000-RB dated 3rd May 2000), in Schedule 1, in the existing Annex B, the existing entry 16.2 shall be substituted by the following:
16.2 | E-Commerce | % of equity/FDI Cap | Entry route | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
16.2.1 | B2B E-commerce activities | 100 % | Automatic | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Such companies would engage only in Business to Business (B2B) e-commerce and not in retail trading, inter alia implying that existing restrictions on FDI in domestic trading would be applicable to e-commerce as well. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
16.2.2 | Market place model of e-commerce | 100 % | Automatic | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
16.2.3 | Other Conditions | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Note: FDI is not permitted in inventory based model of e-commerce. |
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16.2.4 | Sale of services through e-commerce shall be under automatic route subject to the sector specific conditions, applicable laws/regulations, security and other conditionalities. |